It appears that you may be blocking the ads, and we are fine with
it (read more here).
That said, it would really be awesome if you decided to whitelist our website or make a donation :)
You can also send us Bitcoins (1DEkropiHPWBmfJxogFaXQscfzhmdpTti4)!

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for playing Illidan
in a competitive environment in Heroes of the Storm.
For each talent, we explain what they do and why they should or should not be taken.

The other pages of our Illidan guide can be accessed
from the table of contents on the right.

About the Author

Oxygen is a veteran of the MOBA genre, which he has been playing for nearly
15 years. He has coached some of Heroes of the Storm's most prominent North
American players and teams alike, including Team Liquid. As a Master
player, he enjoys playing all Heroes and roles.

2. Common Talent Paths

The Metamorphosis build focuses on improving Illidan's team fighting
presence. It is commonly picked as a means of punishing team compositions that
lack the tools to hinder Illidan's Basic Attacks. Key Talents include
Metamorphosis, the Heroic Ability core to the build, Battered Assault,
which significantly improves Illidan's team fighting damage output, and
Demonic Form, which further increases Illidan's damage output and
makes crowd control ineffective.

3.1. Discussion

Immolation provides Illidan with a steady source of area of effect damage,
something that his base kit sorely lacks. Immolation helps at all stages of the
game, be it with waveclearing, claiming Mercenary Camps,
or simply dealing more damage whenever Sweeping Strike is used
— which is always.

Battered Assault has the potential of greatly increasing Illidan's team fight damage.
However, you do need to ensure that Sweeping Strike meets its condition
of hitting at least two Heroes whenever it is used. Battered Assault is
typically picked on Maps that do not feature many Mercenary Camps, as the
value of the Immolation alternative Talent diminishes in this case.

Unending Hatred provides the largest, most reliable
damage increase as a first-level Talent, albeit much later into the game. With
some of the fastest Basic Attack speed in the game, Unending Hatred will
increase your Basic Attack damage by 30 or roughly 20 to 30% overall. The
downside of Unending Hatred is that it requires time to stack and become
impactful. Unending Hatred is recommended on Maps where you will spend most of
your time in a Lane, notably, Dragon Shire and Tomb of the Spider Queen.

4. Level 4 Talents

✘

Rapid Chase(Level 4)Illidan

Dive grants 15% Movement Speed for 2 seconds.

✔

Friend or Foe(Level 4)Illidan

Increases the range of Dive by 20% and allows it to be used to dive to allied Heroes.

✘

Unbound(Level 4)Illidan

Sweeping Strike can go over walls and terrain.

Reward: After hitting 30 Heroes with Sweeping Strike, gain a second charge.

4.1. Discussion

Although Rapid Chase provides reliable movement speed increase,
the Friend or Foe alternative is much more versatile with its
range increase and ability to jump to allied Heroes.

Friend or Foe provides Illidan with more mobility. The range increase
is useful for chasing, whereas the option to jump to an ally is invaluable to
keep yourself alive or avoid dangerous area of effect Abilities.

Unbound adds a new dimension to the way Illidan can
be played by allowing you to quickly move through both terrain and structural
walls, making you much more nimble and difficult to catch. Its additional
charge clause is also rather simple to fulfill, and will exponentially increase
Illidan's mobility while improving the uptime of Sweeping Strike's damage
bonus. The only issue with this Talent, however, is how long its associated
Quest is to complete. In the end, the range provided Friend or Foe
generally ends up being more useful.

5. Level 7 Talents

?

Reflexive Block(Level 7)Illidan

Using Dive grants 75 Physical Armor against the next 2 Hero Basic Attacks for 3 seconds, reducing the damage taken by 75%.

✔

Thirsting Blade(Level 7)Illidan

Betrayer's Thirst's healing from Basic Attacks is increased from 30% to 50% while Sweeping Strike's damage bonus is active.

✘

Hunter's Onslaught(Level 7)Illidan

Basic Abilities heal for 25% of the damage they deal. This bonus is doubled versus Heroes.

5.1. Discussion

Reflexive Block is a powerful choice against teams that feature at least
two Heroes with powerful Basic Attacks, such as Cho'gall, Greymane, Leoric,
Ragnaros, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Stukov, The Butcher, Thrall, Varian, Zeratul,
or Zul'jin. Otherwise, Thirsting Blade is likely to generate more
value in the form of self sustain.

Thirsting Blade fulfils the same purpose as Hunter's Onslaught. Its effectiveness
depends just on how much you are able to freely deliver Basic Attacks. If the
opposing team features several sources of Blind or crowd control,
Hunter's Onslaught may end up being more reliable.

Hunter's Onslaught is the alternative to when there are either
not many Basic Attack-reliant Heroes on the opposing team, or in the presence
of Tracer or Tychus, both of which quickly chew through and waste Block charges.

6. Level 10 Talents

?

Metamorphosis(Level 10)Illidan

Cooldown: 120 seconds

Transform into Demon Form at the target location, dealing 46(+4% per level) damage in the area. Temporarily increases maximum Health by 200(+4% per level) for each Hero hit by the initial impact. Lasts for 18 seconds.

✔

The Hunt(Level 10)Illidan

Cooldown: 1000 seconds

Charge to target unit, dealing 251(+4% per level) damage on impact and stunning for 1 second.

6.1. Discussion

At this level, Heroic Abilities become available. Both Heroic Abilities have already
been described in the abilities section.

Metamorphosis is the source of much of Illidan's team fighting power, and is
generally picked as a means of crushing team compositions that are ill-equipped
to counter Illidan. In the presence of one or more of Illidan's "enablers" as
allied Heroes, and in the absence of Illidan's counters, Metamorphosis opens
up the possibility for team fighting-centric strategies that simply focus on
fighting as often as Metamorphosis is available. Refer to this guide's
intro section for more information about Illidan's
counters.

7. Level 13 Talents

Sweeping Strike reduces the cooldown of Evasion by 3 seconds every time it damages an enemy Hero.

?

Sixth Sense(Level 13)Illidan

While active, Evasion grants Illidan 75 Spell Armor against the next 2 sources of Spell Damage, reducing their damage by 75%.

7.1. Discussion

Nimble Defender provides a dependable damage reduction when fighting enemy Heroes,
reducing all damage that taken by 25% with an approximate 50% uptime (via the
Cooldown reduction provided by Betrayer's Thirst). It is, however,
less specialized than its counterparts, and should only be picked if no value
is to be gained from them.

Elusive Strike has niche use against team compositions that feature
three or more Heroes with potent Basic Attacks, including, but not limited to,
Cho'gall, Greymane, Leoric, Ragnaros, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Stukov, The Butcher,
Thrall, Tracer, Tychus, Varian, Zeratul, and Zul'jin. The Cooldown reduction
provided by this Talent, compounded with that provided by
Betrayer's Thirst, will cause Evasion to be available
much more often than it normally would.

Sixth Sense reduces Ability damage taken for the next 2 instances of
Ability damage taken. This unfortunately includes any damage dealt by Abilities,
as minute as it may be, such as ticks from Stitches' Vile Gas or Dehaka's
Dark Swarm. This makes it very difficult to reduce the damage of Abilities that are
actually dangerous, such as Nova's Precision Strike. Sixth Sense still has a place place
against caster-heavy team compositions, such as those that might feature
Chromie, Jaina, Kael'thas, Kel'thuzad or Nova.

8. Level 16 Talents

✔

Marked for Death(Level 16)Illidan

Dive deals an extra 180(+4% per level) damage if used consecutively on a target within 10 seconds.

?

Fiery Brand(Level 16)Illidan

Every 4th attack against the same Hero deals an additional 6% of their maximum Health as damage.

8.1. Discussion

Marked for Death provides Illidan with an alternative way of dealing damage that is no
longer tied to his Basic Attacks. This is particularly useful against Heroes
that are able kite to reduce your uptime, or otherwise
have access to Blind or other forms of crowd control. Marked for Death
also turns Dive into a sustained damage increase against Structures and
Mercenary Camps. It should be noted that this Talent also makes Illidan
particularly strong at destroying Cores.

Fiery Brand is Illidan's specific version of Giant Killer.
Although it requires 4 consecutive Basic Attacks to trigger, Illidan's very fast
attack speed, and the fact that Fiery Brand deals a hefty 6% of the target's
Health as pure damage makes the Talent a reasonable choice against team
compositions that feature Healthy Heroes such as Azmodan, Cho'gall, or two or
more Warriors.

Blades of Azzinoth theoretically deals more damage than Marked for Death,
but its limitations generally make Marked for Death more impactful. Not only
does Blades of Azzinoth require hitting enemy Heroes 5 times with
Sweeping Strike prior to using it, but you must also be able to consistantly
use Basic Attacks while it is active.

9. Level 20 Talents

✔

Demonic Form(Level 20)Illidan

Permanently remain in Demonic Form. Metamorphosis also increases Attack Speed by 20% and reduces the duration of Stuns, Roots, and Slows by 50%. Illidan can now mount in Demonic Form.

9.1. Discussion

Demonic Form provides Illidan with everything he needs. The attack speed
increase synergises nicely with Betrayer's Thirst, as more Basic Attacks
provide more Cooldown reduction, which translates into more survivability. The
crowd control reduction also indirectly improves his survivability
and general uptime.

Nowhere to Hide does little to truly improve the effectiveness
of The Hunt. The Ability already has an extremely long range,
and the added Revealing effect is less than useful in practice.

Nexus Blades provides less damage and utility than Demonic Form.
Although 20% increased Basic Attack damage and 20% increased attack speed may
appear as equivalent at a glance, one must remember that attack speed also
provides Illidan with Cooldown reduction through Betrayer's Thirst.
The slowing effect of Nexus Blades is also less than useful to a Hero with infinite
chasing potential.

Bolt of the Storm is a powerful Talent for any Hero.
Illidan's mobility, however, is high enough to justify picking another Talent.
Bolt of the Storm still finds niche use for The Hunt users, as they generally
need the added survivability that would otherwise be provided by Metamorphosis.